Strap type instrument mounting



Jan, 13, 1959 H. SAUER STRAP TYPE INSTRUMENT MOUNTING Filed July 25 1955 fi/entor' 'IIIIIIIIIII ans Sauer -IIIIIIIIIIIIII United tates STRAP TYPE INSTRUMENT MOUNTING Hans Sauer, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Comar Electric Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application July 25, 1955, Serial No. 524,236 1 Claim. Cl. 339-75 a simple spring hold-down strap which eliminates the need for soldering, staking, or bolting such items in po- 'sition.

-Still more detailed objects and aspects of novelty and utility inherent in the disclosed device will become more apparent as the following description proceeds in view of the anneexd drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an instrument canister and mounting means therefor installed upon a fragmentary span of panelling shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 but showing the devices in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is an exploded version of the showing of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken along lines 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a perspective detail of the hold-down strap.

Referring to Fig. 3, the invention is illustrated in conjunction with a canister 10 adapted to house any desired instrumentality such as a relay or inductance (not shown) with which electrical connections may be established through the medium of terminal prongs 11, for example, which in turn are adapted to engage in a suitable socket 12, the latter, in this instance, serving both to support the housed device and to establish electrical connections therewith.

The socket 12 is mounted in an oversize slot 13 (Figs. 3 and 4) punched in a mounting plate 14 so as to leave passages 13X flanking the opposite sides of the socket,

the purpose of which will presently appear. The socket is retained by suitable means such as a press ring 12A, it being understood in any event that details of the socket means 12, 12A, and the instrument canister 1ll11 do not per se constitute any part of the invention, such contrivances being well-known and in common use in the electrical arts.

In some types of equipment, a socket-mounted canister like the device 10 may have no other mounting or supporting means than the socket 12, and for some purposes this is sufiicient.

However, the more frequent case requires that the device 10 be firmly secured in place against vibration or accidental unseating from any cause; and it is commonly necessary to employ one of several expediencies, such as hold-down bolts or twisted or struck-over lugs or soldering, to attach the canister to the panel or chas sis means 14, it being obvious that these expediences to varying degrees render the instrumentality 10 diificult to remove for adjustment, replacement, or repair purposes.

Accordingly, the invention provides a simple holddown strap 16 formed in the manner depicted in Fig. 5 to provide a U-shaped member having an inwardly deflected or curved bight 17 flanked by. opposite legs 18, near the free ends of eachof whichare outwardly-projecting tabs 19. t t

The strap 16 is preferably struck from flatspringstock such as Phosphor bronze or thelike so that the bight 17 and conjoined legs 18 will have some yieldability to'permit the device to beslipped over the canister 10 inthe manner depicted in Figs. 1 and 2; and also to cause the two legs 18 normally tobespring-biased outwardly away from eachother so as to bear against the flanking margins 13X of the socket'slot 13 and cause the respective latching tabs 19 thereof :to engage beneath the apertaining portions of the panel 14, thereby locking the strap in position with a degree of tension or thrust action in a downward direction upon the canister 10 along the line of engagement of the bight portions 17 therewith.

As a result of the foregoing construction and operation of the strap means 16, 17, 18, 19, the device 10 is secured in its engagement with the socket means against dislodgement or movement from vibration and the like, so that the electrical connections are not disturbed from such causes; yet the device may be readily removed by simply squeezing the two legs 18 toward eachother far enough to disengage their respective tabs 19 from beneath the locking margins 13X of the oversize slot.

For heavier requirements, the novel hold-down strap 16 may, if necessary, be made considerably wider in lateral dimension across the width of the legs, with the tabs 19 made correspondingly wider and the widths of the latching margins at 13X made equally wide.

In addition to the advantages of simplicity and ease of manipulation in installing and removing the hold-down means, a further advantage is achieved in conserving space at the sides of the device 10 because the legs 18 are made to hug the sides of the device as closely as desired, it being noted that the latching tabs 19 may be disengaged by a relatively slight displacement requiring only a small freedom of movement for the appertaining free-end regions of the legs beneath the panel 14, and in many installations said free-end portions may beeasily flexed from beneath the panel 14, although there may be very little clearance between the upper reaches of the legs and the canister. Merely pressing the strap 16 down upon the canister will lock the tabs 19 home and secure the device 10 in place.

By reason of the fact that instruments, such as relays, are becoming much smaller in overall size and much lighter, and are being used in larger numbers under conditions where they are subjected to vibration and shock, and must be easily replaceable, the new strap mounting affords a removable mounting or hold-down means of exceptional utility for miniature and subminiature relays.

The flat strap legs 18 hugging flat canister sides prevent twisting; and the canister is at all times under a resilient pressure owing to the bow spring portion 17, attention being called to the force arrows :in Fig. 1.

Moreover, the mounting means has a certain amount of adaptability in that it is feasible to employ the new mounting strap on sub-panels or chassis plates, the thickness of which ranges from .025 in. to .075 in. for a strap of given dimensions.

I claim:

In combination, an instrument member having at least two opposite side-walls which are substantially flat and an adjoining bottom portion provided with plug-in mounting means cooperable with matching plug-in means located in a long slot in a mounting panel, said slot being longer than said matching plug-in means so asto leave a passage between each of the opposite sides of said matching plug-in means and a confronting edge of Patented Jan. 13, 1959 t said slot; and removable hold-down means in the form of a U-shaped strap of flat springy metal having its bight bowed inwardly and having the free ends of its legs sprung somewhat outwardly, each leg having a substansaid opposite fiat side-walls of the instrument member and said tabs being located relative to said b'owed bight and the length of said instrument member such that when said instrument member is disposed on said panel by the mounting means aforesaid, said strap can be pressed.v down upon the instrument member with said bowedportion pressing against the upper end thereof and said legs substantially hugging said opposite sidewalls thereof, and said tabs sprung outwardly of the lugs to latch beneath said free edges of the slot, whereby the instrument member is secured in mounted position and also prevented from twisting by the flat strap legs hugging said oppoite side-walls thereof, and said legs are quickly and easily insertable in said passages.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,358,491 Del Camp Sept. 19, 1944 2,449,646 Emde Sept. 21, 1948 2,474,976 Harrison July 5, 1949 2,539,581 Holden Jan. 30, 1951 2,673,334 Julian et al. Mar. 23, 1954 

